Omnium Gatherum - Years In WasteMy first Omnium CD, and my second favorite to The Redshift (which is impossible to find without paying out the ASS!). The old vocalist is technically not very skilled, but his oddly worn-out sound is an awesome contrast to the progressive perfection of their music. Gives it a bit more "feels"...

3.

Anata - The Conductor's DepartureSuch a brilliant blend of the technical and the melodic. Death metal that suffers from no loss of intensity from it's formal qualities.

4.

Soundtrack - SusperiaDario Argento's ballerina massacre is even better as just creepy sounds for a night of macabre relaxation...

Antigama - ResonanceReally, really diggin' this "mind grind" (my given term) so much that I've been playing it in-between almost everything I play! Argh!

12.

Harvestman - Lashing The RyeSteve Von Till's dreamscapes of man-tear inducing compositions go so well mixed in with his other solo music (as well as some of his bandmate Scott Kelly's) on my media player. Makes laying on the couch like riding a magic carpet over an oasis in a post-apocalyptic world...

13.

Leah - Of Earth & AngelsLeave it up to a rosey-haired young songstress to get my savage inner-beast reduced to a poetic farmboy in some nameless countryside...

14.

Serenity - War of AgesSo damn impressed with this. I'm a huge Kamelot and Dark Moor fan, so it's really needless to say, as the style is right there with those powerhouses. Also- the permanency of the impressive Clémentine Delauney did not turn them into Visions Of Atlantis or anything; as they are still very much fronted by the awesome Georg Neuhauser, just complimented (as always) without having to state "guest" all the time.

15.

Infected Flesh - Concatenation of Severe InfectionsThis is extremely enjoyable (for a sicko like me) and disturbing brutal death metal that is, dare I say...kinda unique!

Meathook Seed - EmbeddedThis release is a good indication of how a collaboration can just go towards achieving stellar-status as well as cohesiveness, as if it was just waiting to be birthed. When these members (Obituary, Napalm Death, and Benediction alumni, respectively) put this mofo together; I just wonder if they knew how infectious and (nearly)alien it would be.

19.

Circle Of Dead Children - Psalm Of The Grand DestroyerSomething about this infernal racket just gels with me. Maybe the fact that it satisfies my love for fun grind, infusing it with the darkness of death metal, and reminds me of the more exploratory and gritty later-era Mayhem (without being "blackened")...and totally blends it all into a work of art- complete with morbid poetry to replace any expected tasteless and exploitational obnoxiousness. Yeah. That explains it.